Figuring out a DIY alignment rig.

Next to figure out is how to get accurate measurements side to side.  Car body and exhaust is in the way of simply using a tape measure.

The bars are light weight aluminum attached to Neodymium magnets  salvaged from old hard drives.  I shimmed them so the height of the magnet face to the outer edge of the bar is within .001" of parallel. 

Nice. Is that for setting toe?

What do you mean by side to side?

where do you take measurements on that rig?

I pull a string across two jack stands, offset for front/rear track widths, and measure front and rear of front tire for toe. 

I haven’t made a camber rig yet. 

Yes, I want to check toe, front and rear.  By side to side, I mean driver to passenger - to want to know the string on each side are parallel to each other.

I'll add scales on the horizontal aluminum bars.  

I've used simpler setups to adjust the front toe before, just trying to make something a little more accurate / repeatable.  Don't want to measure off the sides of the tires.

I recall doing my EA82T sedan with it on stands at the front, bare rims fitted up and roll out metal tape measure. I got even tyre wear for its 110,000 km life. The difference being the tidy tucked up exhaust of the turbo not interfering with measuring points between the rim insides

Checked and adjusted the front toe.  IT was in a bit close to the max.

Picture is of checking the rear toe, it's out past the max, so I adjusted it in.  Surprising how little it moved to get close.   Big pain is having to remove the tire to get at the bolts....

I made 4 small plumb bobs to get pointers near the tape measures.  Want ridged "rulers".  Want something less fussy than dangling weights, but for now, it works.

 

How do you adjust rear toe on 1992 loyale 4wd?

If you remove the rear tire, you can see the trailing arm.   Where it bolts to the part with the axle bearings, there are 3 17mm hex head bolts.  Loosen them, pull the hub forward to toe in,  rearward to toe out.  I used a ratchet strap to get enough pull.  Tighten the bolts, remove strap, reinstall tire, re check alignment. 

I need to do this too but have put it off due to the hassle of this job... 

Cheers 

Bennie

It's a pain.  But I was getting bad tire wear.

 

6 hours ago, DaveT said:

It's a pain.  But I was getting bad tire wear.

 

What sort of wear were you getting? 

I’ve had two rear tyres chew out the inside edge. That was partly due to worn bushes. I’ve since replaced them and need to have this setting adjusted properly. 

Cheers 

Bennie

Exactly that.  Wearing the inside edges of the tires quickly.  

12 hours ago, DaveT said:

If you remove the rear tire, you can see the trailing arm.   Where it bolts to the part with the axle bearings, there are 3 17mm hex head bolts.  Loosen them, pull the hub forward to toe in,  rearward to toe out.  I used a ratchet strap to get enough pull.  Tighten the bolts, remove strap, reinstall tire, re check alignment. 

were they rusty/hard to loosen?

I had them apart when I converted this car to 4wd, so they had anti seize on them.  They were properly tight, but no problem.  For a car where they have not been moved in 30 years, I'd be inclined to hit them with a good penetrating oil, and let them soak for a day or so...  Iirc, I used my impact wrench for disassembly.

Gotcha - I’ve stared at those bolts and hoped I never would have to touch them. Current ones don’t look rusty but you know that doesn’t always mean anything around the NE. 

Yes, NE is tough.  The bolts are hard high strength, not like the body bolts that snap a lot easier.  Soak em, work them out gradually.   Might help to wire wheel the threads on the backside, as they are exposed.  Finer wire, rather than coarser.